Divisions of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the attributable cost and length of stay of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired, catheter-associated bloodstream infections from a hospital-based cost perspective, after adjusting for potential confounders.

DESIGN:

Patients admitted to the ICU between January 19, 1998, and July 31, 2000, were observed prospectively for the occurrence of catheter-associated bloodstream infections. Hospital costs were obtained from the hospital cost accounting database.

SETTING:

The medical and surgical ICUs at a 500-bed suburban, tertiary care hospital.

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients with catheter-associated bloodstream infection had significantly longer ICU and hospital lengths of stay, with higher unadjusted total mortality rate and hospital cost compared with uninfected patients. After adjusting for underlying severity of illness, the attributable cost of catheter-associated bloodstream infection was approximately 11,971 dollars.